Rubbers

Tires connect you/your bike to the ground. It pays to have a nice set of tires, especially on a two-wheeled machine. Since the primary theme of this blog is with old bikes, lets discuss some good tires for that old metric bike of yours.

Those most important thing regarding a tire is the construction. There are two types of construction on a tire: bias ply and radial ply. A tire is made of multiple layers of rubber called plies. In a bias ply tire, the layers are at a 45 degree angle to the center strip and at a 90 degree angle to eachother--they criss-cross eachother. A radial tire has the plies overlap eachother all at a 90 degree angle to the center.

It is safe to say that all of the tires, even the performance ones for these old metric bikes are bias ply tires. They work perfectly fine so don't go searching for a radial tire for your 130 rear rim-- you won't fine it!

There are a few styles of tires that are popular choice in the old metric-cycle community. They all come in various sizes to fit the various sized rims. The Cheng Shin HiMax tire is a good choice if you are on a budget.

"I have cheng shins front and back on my gs1000e. I ride it pretty hard and the tires are holding up fairly well and they haven't slid out from under me or anything else scary," stated a GS Resources forum member.

This tire is around $50 bucks for a rear and a few bucks less for the front.

The Dunlop D404 tire is another popular candidate, even though it has its ups and downs.

"Dunlop 404's are very sticky, great feel, fairly cheap, look good, don't last long. I got less than 3,600 hard miles out of a set on my GS850. They got pretty badly scalloped and didn't feel very good before I replaced them," stated a GS Resources Super Site Supporter.

He also went on to promote the D491's which last longer but are a bit more expensive.

Next on the list are the Bridgestone Spitfire's. These tires are noted to have good traction in the wet and dry and are supposed to last very long. I can quote myself in the performance of these tires as I have scrapped my knee going around turns with these tires. They are designed to be a great all around sport touring tire. These tires also go for the 50-60 dollar range.

The last tire on the list are the Avon Roadrider series. They are noted for their ultra grippy characteristics and sporty tread pattern.

"They're the absolute stickiest tires available in vintage sizes. Both are very modern v-rated designs that work fantastically in the wet or dry," stated GS Resources Super Site Supporter.

These tires run just under and just above $100 for each.

Before purchasing your next set of tires, be realistic with what type of rider you are. The wider the tire does not have anything to do with how far you can lean over in a turn.

Things to look for next time: body putty how to, tour of the damn's, other stuff if I remember it.